Bulgarian Army

The Bulgarian Army is the armed forces of Bulgaria, founded on 22 July 1878. The first 12 battalions of opalchentsi were raised in 1878 during the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-1878, which resulted in Bulgarian independence from the Ottoman Empire. In 1883, the military was reorganized into four infantry brigades and one cavalry brigade, and, in 1885, the Bulgarian Army defeated Serbia in the Serbo-Bulgarian War, resulting in the West's recognition of Bulgaria's annexation of Eastern Rumelia. Bulgaria became a regional power during the Balkan Wars, conquering Thrace and Macedonia from the Turks in the first war from 1912 to 1913 and fighting against its fellow Balkan states in 1913. The latter war was a defeat, and the rise of Bulgarian revanchism led to Bulgaria joining the Central Powers during World War I; Bulgaria assisted in the defeat of Serbia in 1915 and fought in the campaign against Romania in 1916. Bulgaria signed an armistice with the Entente in October 1918, and the Treaty of Neuilly-sur-Seine limited the Bulgarian Army to 20,000 soldiers and eliminated conscription. However, the Bulgarian Army was well-trained and well-equipped at the time of the outbreak of World War II in 1939, and Bulgaria entered the war on the side of the Axis Powers in March 1941 in exchange for Romania's return of Southern Dobrudja to Bulgarian control. The Bulgarian Army played a limited role in the war; no Bulgarian troops took part in Operation Barbarossa, but Bulgarian forces fought against guerrillas in the Balkans. In August 1944, as Soviet Red Army forces neared the Bulgarian border during Operation Bagration, Bulgaria switched sides and joined the Allies, contributing to the Soviet invasion of the Balkans and their Belgrade Offensive. After the war's end, Bulgaria joined the Warsaw Pact, and the Bulgarian Army came to have 200,000 soldiers. With the Cold War's end in 1991 and the Dissolution of the Soviet Union, Bulgaria's military lost Soviet aid and was sized down. Bulgaria went on to send 485 troops to participate in the Iraq War from 2003 to 2008, and 608 Bulgarian troops participated in the ISAF mission during the Afghanistan War.